The Panasonic KV-S2087 is a feature-rich document scanner that can scan through large volumes of paper at a fast clip.

The Panasonic KV-S2087 ($2,495) is a formidable workgroup document scanner with a high rated speed and fast performance in our tests, both when scanning to image PDF and to searchable PDF. It's rated for heavy-duty scanning volume and can scan many document types, including passports, booklets, and ID cards. You can program it to scan to multiple destinations, and scans can be launched either from your computer or the one-touch button. The KV-S2087 lacks a flatbed, and its automatic document feeder (ADF) is limited to letter-width documents, but it's a good, less expensive choice for those who don't need those features.

Design and Features
At 9.5 by 13.8 by 12.6 inches (HWD), the KV-S2087 is compact for a heavy-duty workgroup scanner, and shouldn't be too hard to find a space for. It weighs 19.8 pounds. As is typical of document scanners, the KV-S2087 scans at up to 600 pixels per inch (ppi). Its ADF can fit up to 200 sheets of letter-width paper, and supports the scanning of much longer banners, which the software parses into separate pages should the banner length exceed 100 inches. It has a maximum daily duty cycle of up to 15,000 pages.

Normally the KV-S2087 uses a curved paper path, in which the paper enters through the ADF at the bottom front of the scanner, makes a vertical U-turn, and exits into the output tray at top front. For delicate, thin, or thicker documents, such as ID cards, booklets, and passports, you can push a lever on the right side of the scanner to change the paper path to straight, so that the paper enters through the ADF and exits at the back of the scanner. (You can use the booklet-scanning function to piece together wider scans, by folding, say, a tabloid-size document in half, scanning both sides in Booklet mode, and combining them by using the Double Exposure function.)

Preview and Warning Functions
The KV-S2087 has several useful preview functions that can improve document quality and correct mistakes. Auto Preview automatically creates nine versions of a scanned document and displays them as thumbnails. You can select the most suitable image, and then make further adjustments if needed. Auto Rescan lets you adjust the scanned image quality without rescanning the original document. If there is a problem with a scanned image, you will be notified with one of several warning functions, and the problem will be flagged with an icon. It can also detect pages with color among what's primarily a monochrome document and flag them for special treatment.

This scanner has several features to minimize paper jams and improve scan quality. Toughfeed includes ultrasonic double-feed detection, intelligent feed control, and high-quality feed rollers. With paper-ejection control, the paper exit roller reduces the speed of the paper being ejected and aligns the paper to prevent paper jams or the loss of originals. The paper-jam-sensing features may still need a little tweaking, though. Several times during testing, I got spurious paper-jam error messages telling me that there was a jam, but when I opened the scanner, no paper was stuck inside. Once, this happened twice in a row before the problem mysteriously corrected itself.

Another useful feature is hardware image processing, which we've seen in other recent Panasonic scanners. Some traditionally software-based functions are instead controlled by hardware. For example, this lets the scanner to offer the same speed rating whether you're scanning at 200dpi or 300dpi resolution.

Options and Accessories
For those who need to scan thick or delicate documents, a letter-size flatbed ($818) is available. The KV-S2087 includes a digital imprinter function, which adds text data to a scanned document. In addition, an optional ($990) post-imprinter, which prints text onto the rear side of an original document when it is scanned, is available. Also, Panasonic expects to offer a version of the KV-S2087 that adds Kofax VRS (virtual rescan) Elite image enhancement software, at a price yet to be determined.

Software and Connectivity
As is true of many heavy-duty document scanners, the KV-S2087 ships with minimal software, as IT departments generally want to integrate the scanner with their preferred document-management solutions. Software includes Panasonic's Image Capture Plus utility, which lets you scan and save documents to different formats, as well as Twain and ISIS drivers, which enable you to initiate scans from nearly any Windows program with a scan command. Although Image Capture Plus is versatile, letting you create and name up to 100 scan profiles, I don't find the software particularly intuitive, and each time I test a Panasonic scanner, it feels like I'm relearning Image Capture Plus from scratch. Connectivity is via USB port, including USB 3.0.

Scanning Speed
I tested the scanner over a USB 2.0 connection with its software installed on a PC running Windows Vista. The KV-S2087 is rated at up to 85 pages per minute (ppm) for simplex scanning and 170 images per minute (ipm) for duplex scanning, where each side of a page is considered one image. I timed it at 60ppm for simplex scanning and 115.4ipm for duplex. While our official timings run from the moment we enter the scan command until the file is saved to disk, manufacturers use the raw speedthe time actually spent physically scanningfor their ratings. In ad hoc testing of its raw speed, I timed the KV-S2087 at 79ppm, reasonably close to its rated speed.

That is significantly faster than the Kodak i3250 Scanner, our Editors' Choice heavy-duty scanner for a large workgroup or midsize office, which is rated at 50ppm for simplex scanning and 100ipm for duplex scanning to image PDF, across all color modes at both 200ppi and 300ppi. In comparison, the Kodak i3250 turned in scores of 37ppm and 74ipm for simplex and duplex scanning, respectively. The KV-S2087 was also faster in scanning to searchable PDF on our tests, a task at which the Kodak i3250 averaged 1:09.

In line with the two scanners' rated speeds, the KV-S2087 has a clear edge in speed over the Kodak i3250 in scanning to both image PDF and searchable PDF. The Kodak i3250 makes up for its lesser speed in versatility, adding a letter-size flatbed and a 250-sheet, 12-inch-wide automatic document feeder that can scan tabloid-size (11-by-17 inches) and larger paper. The Kodak i2900 is slightly faster than the Kodak i3250 and is otherwise very similar to that model, except it can't scan paper wider than letter size.

Conclusion
If your busy workgroup or office needs to scan large spreadsheets and tabloid-size documents (as well as smaller ones), the Editors' Choice Kodak i3250 is a great choice, as is the Panasonic KV-S5076H, our top pick for heavy-duty departmental document scanners. But if the documents your office scans are no wider than letter or legal size, the Panasonic KV-S2087 is a compelling choice as a workgroup document scanner. It's competitively priced, it's lightning-fast, and it can churn through large stacks of documents.

About the Author

As Analyst for printers, scanners, and projectors, Tony Hoffman tests and reviews these products and provides news coverage for these categories. Tony has worked at PC Magazine since 2004, first as a Staff Editor, then as Reviews Editor, and more recently as Managing Editor for the printers, scanners, and projectors team.
In addition to editing, T... See Full Bio

Panasonic KV-S2087

Panasonic KV-S2087

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